Chords for John Prine ~ Jesus, the missing years

_ The missing years.
_ _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _
It was raining.
It was cold
_ [F] West Bethlehem was no place for a 12 [G] year old
So he packed his bag and he headed out
Find out [C] what the world's about
_ He went to France and went to Spain
[F] He found love he found pain
[G]
He found stores.
So he started a shop
He had no money.
So he got in trouble with [C] a cop
_ _ _ Kids in [Em] trouble with the cops from Israel didn't have [C] no home
[F] So he cut his hair and moved to Rome
[G] It was there he met his Irish pride
They rented a flat on the Lower East Side
[C] of Rome _ _
Italy [F] that is _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ music publishers
_ _ book binders _
Bible Belters
_ _ swimming pools
orgies
lots of pretty [C] Italian chicks _ _ _
_ _ Charlie bought some popcorn
_ [F]
Billy bought a car
_ [G] Someone almost bought the farm, but they didn't go [C] that far
Things shut down at midnight
[F] Least round here they do
[G] because we all reside down the block inside a
23 [C] skidoo
_ _ _ Wine was flowing.
So were beers
[F] So Jesus found his missing years
[G] He went to a dance and said this don't move me
He hiked up his pants and he went [C] to a movie
_ _ _ On his 13th birthday saw rebel without a [Em] cause
[F] He went straight on home and invented Santa [G] Claus
Who gave him a gift he responded in kind?
Gave the gift of love [C] and went out of his mind _ _
_ You see him and the wife wasn't getting along
_ [F]
So he took out his guitar and he wrote a [G] song
Called the dove of love fell off the perch
_ But he couldn't get divorced in the Catholic Church
[C] _ Least not back then anyhow _ _
Jesus was a good guy
_ [F] He didn't need this shit _
_ [G] So he took a pill with a coca-cola
He swallowed [C] it
_ He discovered the Beatles _
_ [F] He recorded with the stones
_ [G] _
Once he even opened up a three-way package for old George [C] Jones
_ _ Charlie bought the popcorn
_ [F]
Billy bought a car
[G] _ Someone almost bought the farm, but they didn't go [C] that far
_ Things shut down at midnight
[F] At least round here they do
[G] Cuz we all reside down the block inside it
23 [C] skidoo
The _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ years passed by like sweet little days
[F] _ with babies crying pork chops and Beaujolais
[G] _
When he woke up, he was 17
The world was angry the [C] world was mean
_ _ by the
Man down the [G] street the kid [F] on the stoop
All agreed to life stank all [G] the world smell like poop
_ baby poop that is
the worst [C] kind _ _ _ _
So he grew his hair long and he threw away his [F] comb
Headed back to Jerusalem to find mom and dad and home
_ [G] But when he got there the cupboard was bare except for an old black man with a fishing rod
He said what you gonna be when you grow up
Jesus [C] said God oh _
_ [F] My god, what have I got myself into?
I'm a human corkscrew normal wine is blood
[G] They're gonna kill me mama
_ They don't like me bad
[C] _ _ _ _
_ So Jesus went to heaven
_ _ [F]
He went there awful quick
_ [G] All them people killed him.
_ He wasn't even [C] sick _ _
So come and gather around me
_ [F] my contemporary peers
_ [G] Now tell you all the story of Jesus
the [C] missing years
_ _ Charlie bought some popcorn
_ [F] Billy bought a car
[G] _
Someone almost bought the farm, but they didn't [C] go that far
_ Things shut down in midnight
[F] At least round here they do
[G] Cuz we all reside down the block inside
_ 23 [C] skidoo _ _ _
[G] We all reside down the block inside
23 [F] skidoo
_ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [N] _ _